War
by Interspark
Summary: Three years after its imprisonment in the Time Room, the Lich returns to Ooo in a blaze of fire and chaos. This is the end, no tricks and no traps. The Lich and its undead army will finally eradicate all life in Ooo... or be destroyed trying.
1. Chapter 1

War

Jake the Dog ploughed through the gentle waves at a steady pace. He had morphed his body into a small paddleboat and his flattened feet were kicking, rhythmically propelling him through the water. On his back, sitting on a "bench" made from his flesh, was his seventeen-year-old human brother, Finn. The previous few years had been kind to Finn. Asides from his increased height and a thin, blonde moustache, he was almost indistinguishable from his fourteen-year-old self. His white bear hat obscured most of his head, and his emerald-green backpack sat securely on his back and set in between the two was his blood-red sword, with a circular hilt.

"Hey bro, you better call PB." Jake called, moving his mouth round to his back, to avoid a mouth full of water. "She said the signal might floop up when we get close to the well."

"Oh yeah…" Finn said. He reached into his shirt and pulled out a pink crystal, on a string around his neck. It projected a pink cube of light in the air, with an image of the Princess' shoulders and head inside it. "Hey Peebles. We're almost at the Lich's Well of Power."

"That's great Finn, but be careful." The candy princess' warning was grating and muffled. Her image flickered slightly as she spoke. "My sensors are going floofloo banaynays. Something cra… cra… cra…" The image flickered and disappeared.

"You hear that man?" Finn asked Jake, putting the crystal back under his shirt.

"Sure did. We better be super MEGA careful!" The orange dog confidently declared.

"Bro, I'm gonna make careful circles around you!"

The two brothers laughed loudly as Jake hit the shore of the tiny island and, once Finn climbed off his back, reverted to his normal form. The two of them began to walk through the derelict wasteland that awaited them. The Lich's island housed some of the most intact ruins of the world before the Great Mushroom War in all of Ooo. All around Finn and Jake, crumbling skyscrapers towered and cracked streets stretched off into the distance. If it wasn't for the unearthly chill that hung in the air, they'd probably go adventuring there all the time. That, and their recollection of what had happened on their last visit, four years ago, when the Ice King had carelessly dropped Princess Bubblegum into the Lich's Well of Power, allowing it to come back to life and posses her, almost killing her in the process.

"Hey Finn. If this is Lich biz, we should probably put our anti-mind jack gems on, to keep him out of our noodles." Jake suggested.

"Dude. The Lich has been gone for like, three years!" Finn reminded him. "You remember? Prismo sealed him away in the Time Room, and then Peebles and Pep But did that funky ceremony to lock down the walls between dimensions."

Jake gritted his teeth and groaned. "I know man, I'd just feel a whole lot better with the gems on. I got some private junk up here I don't want the Lich getting his bony mitts on." Jake tapped the side of his head.

Finn sighed and chuckled. "Fine, if it'll make you feel better."

He reached around to his backpack and pulled out two purple gems on golden strings. Jake took his and placed the string around his ears, resting the gem on his forehead. Finn removed his hat and allowed his string to get tangled in his flowing, golden hair. The two gems glowed, and then projected a bubble around Finn and Jake's heads, which slowly faded away.

"Happy now?" Finn smiled patronisingly.

"If the Lich _is_ down here, I'm gonna give you such a pinching!" Jake warned.

The two of them arrived at a set of steps, which led down to a gloomy subway station. Even now, so long after the Lich had activated it, toxic-green wisps of smoke with distressed faces on them still drifted out of the cavern-like station and floated into the air. As they walked down the steps, Finn instinctively drew his sword. Jake reached into his backpack, produced a flashlight, switched it on and jammed it into his own forehead.

The station seemed to stretch down for miles. Derailed trains were piled up around the tracks, and under their feet, crunched the bones of the undead humans Finn had destroyed the last time they were there, with Billy's power gauntlet.

"So if you think the Lich is still locked up in Prismo's closet, how do you explain PB's sensor flimflam?" Jake pointed out.

Finn shrugged. "I dunno, could be zombie karaoke night down there. Remember that time she sent us to the Ice Kingdom to defuse a chemical bomb that turned out to be one of Ice King's socks?"

"Oh yeah… Well you should still be careful! If this place is fine, then how come you never see little peeps living here, like everywhere else in Ooo? There's no kingdom here, or nothing!"

Finn frowned and didn't respond to Jake. The dog had a point. It was almost as if life itself couldn't exist down there, whereas if you went almost anywhere else in the world, everything and its mum could grow a mouth and legs and break into song and dance at a moment's notice. Even fire had come to life and formed its own kingdom.

After what seemed like hours, Finn and Jake found their way to the final set of stairs and descended to the subway station's lowest floor. It front of them, the hauntingly familiar pool of green, glowing liquid bubbled ominously. The steady green glow illuminated the chamber, allowing Jake to remove the flashlight from his head and return it to Finn's backpack. The two brothers stepped towards it carefully. The bubbles raged across the surface like a pot of boiling water.

"Ooh!" Jake exclaimed, making Finn jump. "Use that Stuffometer PB gave you!"

Finn raised his eyebrows as he remembered the device the Princess had armed him with. He reached into his backpack again and pulled out a machine shaped like a brick with a small radar dish at the top of it. On its front, was a small, triangular screen, with a needle and colour-coded segments that, from the left, read, "Nothing, Some Stuff, A Fair Amount of Stuff, and Hot Daniel that's a lot of Stuff!"

Finn waved the device around the station, the needle jittered around the middle of the display, flickering between 'Some Stuff' and 'A Fair Amount of Stuff'. Then, cringing, Finn set out to confirm what they both already feared. He sheepishly pointed the Stuffometer at the Well of Power. Instantly, the needle shot across the display and went as far right as possible. The device rattled like there was a giant bee trapped inside, and then exploded with a shower of sparks.

"Ow!" Finn cried. He tried to shove his entire right hand into his mouth to soothe the angry burn marks that had ruptured all over it.

"I told you!" Jake sneered. "Lich City, Population – Us!"

"Gaaahh gaarrr oooof aaareee!" Finn spluttered through the hand in his mouth.

"What?"

Finn spat out his hand. "That doesn't prove anything!" He repeated. "Of course there's stuff in the Well of Power! Doesn't mean that stuff is the…"

In a flash, a mighty skeletal arm with clawed fingers burst from the pool and swiped at Finn. He jumped back, just in time to escape with nothing more than four hefty scratches in his shirt and belly.

"LICH!" He cried, as the arm clawed at the side of the pool. "Ow! OW! Dude, cut it out!" He snapped, as Jake stretched his arm over and repeatedly pinched him.

The boys stared in terror as a colossal, skeletal husk dragged itself to the surface of the pool. Two spiralling horns crept out first, followed by a face, covered in rotting, putrid skin, that may as well have been ripped off a corpse and carelessly superglued to a skull. Its eyes were black voids with eerie pinpricks of green light at the centre. A heavy-built body followed, wrapped in a grey-green cloak, with a cape that billowed despite the utter lack of wind in the subway station. Two monstrous skeletal arms crept out of the cloak, including the one which had hauled the beast from the well.

The Lich's chest heaved and its head bobbed back and forth as it laughed menacingly. The gems on Finn and Jake's head blotted the sound out, thankfully.

"Lich! You get back in that well and stay there!" Finn warned, like a parent scolding a toddler, pointing at the well with his burnt hand, while holding his sword in his equally strong left hand.

"Bro, be careful…!" Jake mumbled, both his voice and his body trembling in fear.

Suddenly, the skeletal terror lurched forwards and swung at Finn with a set of claws that could cut him to shreds. Finn dived out of the way, and the Lich's head swivelled freely around its shoulders, following Finn's path, but taking its eyes of Jake proved to be a bad idea.

A ribbon of orange spiralled into the air and wrapped around the Lich's face, pulling it back. Two lengths of orange reached across the station, where Jake's head and legs wrapped around a pillar, desperately struggling to keep the undead monster from breaking loose.

Screaming as he did, Finn flew into the air and descended, sword first, upon the Lich's chest. Finn's sword buried itself in a hollow ribcage, right up to the hilt, but the Lich didn't even seem to notice. It tore Jake off its head, then seized Finn by the torso and hurled him across the station like a baseball.

Finn's head slammed into the side of a train and he fell to the ground, his vision spinning like a carrousel. He barely even noticed the Lich looming towards him. Jake's arm stretched forwards and his fingers dug into the Lich's shoulder.

"Hey pal!" He jeered.

The Lich turned around, only to see an orange fist the size of a truck hurtling towards it. The Lich shot across the room, and when it came to a stop, it became apparent that it was silently screaming, steam seemed to seep from its bony arms and head. Rapidly recovering from his concussion, Finn ran over to Jake.

"Dude, what did you do!?" He asked in awe.

Jake grinned. "Fought this big nasty with the power of _love_."

He showed Finn the hand he had punched the Lich with. On one of his fingers, (a finger he had simply elongated instead of enlarged.) he wore a silver ring with a diamond that gleamed in all the colours of the rainbow.

"Hey, do me a solid and don't tell Lady I used my wedding ring to fight ancient evil?" Jake pleaded. "Promised her I wouldn't do that…"

On the other side of the well, the tiles that lined the floor began to crack as the Lich climbed to his feet. Green fire began to burn angrily in his eyes. Sharing his brother's confidence, Finn reached into his backpack a third time and pulled out a raggedy, sloppily made bobble hat the Flame King (former Flame Princess) had very carefully knitted for him out of regular wool, and wrapped it around his fist like a boxing glove.

"Let's finish this, with the power of LOVE!" Finn cried.

He and Jake charged towards the Lich, each of them running around the Well of Power in an opposite direction. In unison, they jumped into the air, fists poised. Their plan would have been without flaw… if it hadn't been for the Lich's speed…

With a determined blast of green fire from its eyes and mouth, the Lich's head spun around to face Jake and its right arm shot out like a bullet. It punched Jake square in the chest and sent him flying across the station, where he splatted into a wall and trickled feebly to the floor, like a handful of paint. With its left hand, the Lich caught Finn's fist, stopping him in his tracks and holding him in the air. Flame King's bobble hat burnt the Lich's hand but, although it was visibly trembling, it seemed to be tolerating it, like a human might temporarily tolerate holding the business end of a hot poker.

Suddenly, the Lich's hand and Finn's entire right arm burst into green flames. Finn flailed all three of his free limbs and shrieked in pain. As it turned out, Finn's high-pitched wail might have ultimately saved his and Jakes lives.

With all the willpower he could spare, Finn drew his sword with his left hand, swung it over his head and cleaved through the Lich's arm, shattering it like plaster. Finn fell to the floor and tearfully clutched his burnt and blackened arm. The Lich sank down and kicked him across the room, sending him slamming into Jake with a ripple of orange flesh. With the effects of Flame King's hat catching up to it, the Lich collapsed to its knees and wearily reattached the two halves of its left arm. They fused together with a dull green glow.

Finn struggled up to his knees and the misshapen blob that was Jake wearily rose into the air.

"Let's… waste this dingus…!" Finn wheezed.

"You know it… bro…" Came Jake's equally winded reply.

The Lich menacingly rose into the air. For all the damage Finn and Jake had taken, it might as well have been fresh out of the well. With a grin of victory on its rotting face, the tyrannical skeleton blasted across the room, claws first. But a hazy, black blur later, it was imbedding its claws in the stone wall.

As it retracted its claws, the skin around the Lich's nostril holes flapped as it drew a deep breath. It knew what kind of creature had done this. It always annoyed the terrible beast when its fellow undead turned on their own kind…

Several floors up, Finn blinked the roaring wind out of his eyes and tried to come to terms with what had happened and why he hadn't been impaled by the Lich's claws, assuming of course, he hadn't. But Finn didn't suspect death would feel like being lifted into the air by the torso and flown rapidly through a musty subway station. Eventually, his head snapped in gear and he realised what was happening.

"Marceline!? What are you doing here?"

The Vampire Queen had her arm wrapped around Finn's chest and had his canine brother wrapped around her neck like a scarf. Strapped across her torso, was a belt of cylindrical explosives, which she was tearing off with her free hand and scattering around the station as she flew up towards the surface. On her head, perched one of her wide-brimmed sunhat.

"P-Bubs sent me. She knows what happened, so she told me to get you out of here ASAP."

Marceline pulled the final stick of dynamite off her chest and threw it aside, and shot out of the subway's entrance and into the sunlight.

"Marceline, go back! We can take it together!" Finn insisted.

Marceline was flying straight upwards. She reached into her pocket with her free hand and pulled out a mobile phone and a small, silver cylinder.

"Yeah, Bonnie said you'd say that. Here, talk to her." Marceline handed the phone to Finn, then flipped the top off the cylinder with her thumb, revealing a small, red button. "SAYONARA LICHEY-BOY!"

Immediately after Marceline pressed the button, grinning madly, the entire island shook and a mountain of smoke blasted through the concrete and into the air. The towering ruins crumbled to the ground and the entire ruined city collapsed into the crater Marceline's explosives had caused.

"Peebles?" Finn said, putting the phone to his ear once the shock had subsided.

"Finn!" She cried his name in relief. "I'm so glad you're ok! Are Jake and Marcy…?"

"Yeah, Marceline totally saved us both! What's this crazy biz about us not fighting the Lich?"

"Finn, my sensors have totally flipped out! The Lich is far too powerful to be killed by mortal means! If you'd stayed, it _would_ have killed you!"

"But we were getting all up in his business with the power of love!" Finn protested.

"You're not dealing with the same Lich as last time, Finn. It's back, and stronger than ever, the power of love wouldn't have been enough. Come back to the Candy Kingdom with Marceline and we can draw up a battle plan. This isn't over yet."

As the tiny, black spec in the sky disappeared over the horizon, a small patch of the mighty pile of rubble began to shift. As if imitating almost every zombie movie ever made, the Lich thrust its arms through the ground and clawed at the sky. Shaking the pebbles from its skull, the undead monster pulled itself out of the ground and stood up.

This place would do fine. There was so much fear here, so much death. The corpses had been undisturbed for hundreds of years, and that meant they would be restless, the perfect troops to begin its mighty army. The army it would use to crush the pitiful life out of this pathetic world once and for all. There would be no revenge. Not on the candy princess who had imprisoned it, not on the human and dog who had done such a wonderful job of delaying its victory. Revenge was for lower beings, fools who thought it accomplished anything. No, they would die along with everyone else in due time.

As of that moment… the war had begun.


	2. Chapter 2

"_The Lich isn't a person, or a monster… as much as it's an idea, the idea that all life in Ooo should be eradicated. When the bomb that ended the great Mushroom War was created, it was that idea that was poured into its design by the scientists who constructed it. They knew the war was lost… so they sought to end it… for everyone. The Lich's birth was a horrific side effect of the bomb's detonation, and to this day, it is driven by their legacy. The liquid in the well of power is the chemical formula from that bomb. Although it isn't volatile anymore, it still has the power to spawn the Lich if the old one is destroyed. I didn't think sealing it in another dimension would be enough to warrant its resurrection… but I was wrong…"_

Finn had seen Princess Bubblegum unwittingly feed her citizens to a horde of Candy zombies, but he had never seen her look more remorseful than at that moment. Almost as soon as Finn, Jake and Marceline had returned to the Candy Kingdom, Bubblegum had ambushed them with three Artificial Power Gauntlets she had made, based on Billy's one, which had been destroyed by the Lich when Finn and Jake had first encountered it.

Bubblegum's fear of the Lich had been so great, it even overpowered her concern for Finn. She didn't so much as suggest he stay behind and let her look at his scorched and mangled arm, even though it prevented him from wearing any of the gauntlets she had made, as they were all right-handed. This was the first in a long line of difficult decisions that would haunt the Candy Princess in the years to come, even though, if anything, Finn seemed relieved that Bubblegum didn't nag him to stay behind.

When Finn, Jake and Marceline returned to the Lich's island, they were met by an army of rotten, clammy undead. The zombies were climbing from the ancient ruins like ants, swarming around their demonic master. The Lich floated in the air above them, its arms raised and glowing like terrible stars as the resurrection spell pulsed across the island, probably across all of Ooo.

Oblivious to the army beneath them, the three of them valiantly fought the Lich from the air, but were ultimately defeated. Bubblegum's Power Gauntlets appeared to do little more than stun the Lich, and they were lucky to escape with their lives…

That day saw the single highest casualty rate Ooo had seen since the Great Mushroom War. After Marceline carried a badly wounded Finn and Jake back to the Candy Kingdom, the Lich's army began to march. Although they were mostly utterly unremarkable zombies, their sheer numbers saw to it that naught but the most secure, fortified, or out of the way Kingdoms so much as stood a chance. The Candy Kingdom, Flame Kingdom, Ice Kingdom, Castle Lemongrab, Wizard City and Lumpy Space withstood the first wave with minimal casualties, but all across Ooo, the outcasts and the smaller settlements were beginning to die. The citizens of the Slime Kingdom were torn apart by undead claws as the zombies sank through the pillars of goo like some terrifying rain. The City of Thieves was torn down relentlessly and without mercy. The Marauders put up a good fight, but ultimately, it was their lack of coordination and resources that was their undoing. Not even the Box Kingdom was spared…

As Princess Bubblegum tested the reflexes of a bionic arm she had made for Finn, while simultaneously studying the energy beams being fired from her Power Gauntlets, through various filters, she listened with a heavy heart to the commotion outside. The laser blasts from the Gumball Guardians. The steady moan of the undead. The clang of Banana Guard weapons against those of the undead. What stung her the most, though, was the infrequent pop of the occasional Candy Person who, despite the lack of immediate danger, had exploded out of fear.

Trying her best to close her heart and mind to what was happening outside of her lab, Bubblegum tapped some buttons on a computer and the robotic arm writhed around like an attentive snake, exercising all of its joints. The circular pincer on the end spun around freely.

Frowning grimly, Bubblegum picked up the arm and as many of the gauntlets as she could carry. They weren't ready yet, but they would have to do for now. It was time to get to work.

* * *

**Seven Years Later**

Dark storm clouds loomed over what was left of the Candy Kingdom. Flickering bolts of lightning illuminated the metallic plates that covered almost all of the castle, and the miniature glacier that had formed halfway up the side. The surrounding village was all but gone. Decomposing chunks of sponge cake that had been the walls of houses littered the ground, mashed into the dirt by the stomping feet of Banana Soldiers and Gumball Guardians. Once upon a time, there had only been two of the colossal, protective automations, but over the past seven years, whenever she could spare the time and resources, Bubblegum had created another. The Gumball Guardians now lined the area of Ooo that was controlled by Ooo's Royal Court, defending the border from the occupants of the Lich's territory. Dozens of them, stood at regular intervals, with lasers primed to keep the savage undead at bay.

The previous seven years had been a stalemate. There was no middle ground between the kingdoms that had been destroyed in an instant, and the kingdoms that simply refused to be beaten. Every Kingdom that had survived the first wave had lived on to this day, beaten and scarred, but still fighting. Skirmishes against undead platoons were a daily occurrence, at least, but no one had seen the Lich since the day it crawled out of its well. Undead workers had laboured for days to construct a mighty, black citadel on the Lich's Island, but not even the Gumball Guardians were able to get close to it without being destroyed by the Lich's army.

High in the sky above the Candy Kingdom, what appeared to be an angelic figure swept gracefully through the sky. From a distance it appeared to be a man, with an enormous pair of feathery wings, while in fact, the wings were something else entirely. The man was twenty-four years old. He wore a blue shirt and jeans and a white, bear-shaped hat, from under which, a single wisp of blonde hair emerged and hung halfway down the human's face. It flapped like a miniature flag in the strong wind. His right arm was made entirely of metallic cybernetics with large, circular hinges. On his back, he wore a green backpack, and it was from underneath the backpack, that an enormous pair of fleshy, orange wings sprouted. Although they weren't feathered, their texture was such, that they forced the air beneath them with far more efficiency than the wings of any real bird. At the end of each wing, was a large, black eye.

"Hey bro, you see anything?" Came Jake's muffled voice from underneath Finn's backpack.

"Nah man… Seems pretty quiet." Finn solemnly replied.

The quiet times were always the worst. When in the thick of battle, Finn and Jake always knew what to do, and usually, what was about to happen. Silence could mean anything was about to happen, and it was horribly unsettling.

"There!" Jake suddenly exclaimed.

An orange arm extended from the right wing and pointed at the ground. Barely visible amongst the dark gloom, was a dull, green glow. As Finn and Jake focused, they realised it was an enormous creature, the size of a small mountain, made entirely of dirt. It was shaped roughly like a squat bear and had a huge, glowing emerald set into its forehead.

"Golem!" Finn and Jake angrily realised, at the same time.

The Lich's golems were its response to the Gumball Guardians. They were for muscle, defence and, very rarely, for invasions. As it stomped on all fours, towards the Candy Kingdom, three Gumball Guardians clung to it, desperately trying to slow it down, although each one was barely the size of one of the monster's mighty limbs. The Guardians fired their lasers into its dense flesh, but they knew all too well that the only way to fully destroy a golem was to smash its crystal. Every time one of the monstrous robots tried to run around to the golem's head, it lazily swatted them away, and when they tried to climb over its back, it would roll over, threatening to shatter their glassen heads.

"JAKE!" Finn cried authoritatively.

"LET'S DO IT!" Jake shouted back, needing no further instruction.

Jake flapped his wings like a mighty falcon, shooting through the air. They approached the golem from the sky, while maintaining their altitude. When they were almost directly overhead, Jake shouted,

"Ready bro?"

"Ready!"

Jake dropped his aerial form, slithered over Finn like a second skin, and became a sword the size of a surfboard in his hands. Over the past years, Jake had practiced transforming into bladed or pointed objects so much, he was at a point where he could drill through diamonds. As his wings disappeared, Finn clenched his stomach as gravity claimed the two of them. The first few times he and Jake had attempted such an aerial attack, Finn had thrown up as the change in gravitational force shifted his lunch, but now it was as natural as walking down a flight of stairs. As they plummeted, a whistle on a string around Finn's neck writhed around behind him. As the air raged through it, it emitted a noise that was inaudible to both Finn and Jake. Instinctively, the Gumball Guardians looked upwards, in response to the sound.

"Finn and Jake approach!" One bellowed in its monotone voice.

"Prepare for backup!"

With an effort that sent steam erupting from their joints, two of the Gumball Guardians pinned the golem's hands to the ground, while the third jumped on its back and pulled its head back, pointing its emerald skywards. They groaned and shook, rattling gumballs against their faces, as they struggled to keep the beast still.

Finn and Jake shot towards it like a bolt of lightning. As they approached, Finn spun Jake above his head and struck the green gem, fighting the air resistance as would be impossible for someone with two regular arms. Although it hadn't been it hadn't been a part of Finn's arm that had been burnt by the Lich, Bubblegum had also replaced most of Finn's right shoulder with robotic upgrades, to make such attacks possible.

The gem shattered and an explosion of green illuminated the entire area. As soon as the emerald broke, Jake exploded, engulfing Finn in his polymorphic flesh and shielding him from the collision with the ground. After they landed, Jake let go of Finn and reverted to his normal form, just in time to see the Gumball Guardians emerging from under the mound of soil the golem had become.

"Thank you Finn and Jake!" One of them bellowed. "Excuse us. We must return to the border."

"Yeah, we'd better scram too bro." Jake said, as the Gumball Guardians stomped off into the distance. "EB's gonna wanna know about this golem. Besides, our shift is pretty much over. Marceline's got the next one, right?"

"No dude, she's got that super-important mission, remember?" Finn reminded his brother. "I think Ice King's picking up her slack."

Finn, Jake, Ice King and Marceline were the only people in Ooo who had survived the Lich's first wave without the help of a fortress or army. After a few weeks, Marceline had briefly moved in with Finn and Jake for the sake of strength in numbers, and the Ice King had followed suit, although it was likely he had an alterior motive in wanting to hang out. But eventually, it became clear that that wasn't enough. The tree fort was destroyed after a fierce battle with one of the Lich's fearsome generals, a towering skeletal terror, much like the Lich except its horns didn't spiral, it wore armour instead of a cloak and it relied more on brutality than magic. After they had defeated it, the four of them, along with BMO, had reluctantly moved into the Candy Kingdom.

Finn and Jake approached the Candy Kingdom and stopped at an archway with a crackling, blue wall of light inside. The barrier covered the entire kingdom, but it was made visible in the entrance gateway because contact with it was potentially fatal.

"Halt!" A Banana Soldier pointed his spear at them from the other side of the energy field. "Finn and Jake's patrol does not end for 32 seconds! You will wait!"

Finn and Jake sighed, but didn't complain. The guard was acting under strict orders from Bubblegum. The Lich's spies could take many shapes and she had every reason to keep security tight, which meant scheduling all trips in and out of the kingdom to the millisecond and scanning everyone thoroughly. Since her security scans mostly tested for signs of life, it was a huge pain for Marceline to get past the security, as she was their only undead ally.

Eventually, the barrier flickered and turned orange, a sign that Finn and Jake may pass through. Their stomachs tingled as the scans verified their heartbeats and other vital signs.

"Thanks man." Finn said to the guard as he and Jake passed him.

The two of them continued towards the castle in silence, they never liked to talk in the ruins of the Candy Village, it gave them bitter memories of the Lich's siege in the early days of the war.

* * *

The Lich's magic had shrouded its army until it was right on top of them. Princess Bubblegum didn't know a thing until she heard the screams. The Banana Guards were doing their best to protect the citizens, but it was a rapidly loosing battle. PB sprinted to the training room, where her first platoon of Banana Soldiers were running through some drills, and snapped them into action. However, moments before they marched through the palaces huge front doors, a siren had wailed, and a mighty sheet of steel descended over the doorway, and every other possible entry or exit to the castle, including the windows and secret tunnels.

From the castle's security room, Peppermint Butler had seen the attack on the village. When he realised what Bubblegum was doing, he knew he had to stop her. There was no doubt that a battle in the middle of town would, quite literally, scare the Candy People to death. As sad as it was, the Candy People were doomed from the moment the Lich's forces set foot in the Candy Kingdom. In a desperate bid to protect the Princess and the soldiers, he had put the entire castle on lockdown for a fixed period of twelve hours.

Peppermint Butler was charged with treason for what he did, even though it was only because of him that the Kingdom wasn't eradicated altogether. Bubblegum secretly realised that, and because of that, Peppbut only faced a month in the palace dungeons. As she mourned her people, Bonnibel Bubblegum renounced her position as a princess, in spite of the protests from her friends and remaining subjects. She gave her crown to Marceline, favouring the simple gems on strings that Finn, Jake and the soldiers wore. The destruction of the Candy Kingdom had struck fear into the hearts of the other remaining royalty and leaders of Ooo, and that fear had inspired the need to band together and form the first United Ooian Empire. Despite her losses, the former Royal Court's respect for Bubblegum's leadership was unshaken, and it was with a heavy heart, that she accepted the title of Emperor Bubblegum.

* * *

"S'up IK." Finn said, as he and Jake approached the ancient, blue wizard in the Candy Castle's corridor, heading in the opposite direction.

"Hey guys, you wanna tag me in for patrol?" He held up his hand.

"Tag." Finn gently high-fived him as they passed.

"Alright, awesome. See you guys later."

The psychological effects of the war were even scratching the Ice King's tough shell. He made far fewer presumptions about his, Finn and Jake's relationship as best friends these days. He had even cut back his attempts to kidnap the former Candy Princess to once a week at most.

Finn and Jake descended a set of stairs to the War Room, at the heart of the castle. The War Room was cavernous and circular. The walls were lined with enormous monitors, on which one could see almost anything, anywhere in Ooo, except in the Lich's Castle. The centre of the room housed a giant, black table, which showed a holographic image of all of Ooo, with various lines and symbols, which narrated the progression of the war.

Standing at one end of the table, was Emperor Bubblegum. Her diamond rested on her forehead, the string tangled in an unkept mane of bubblegum hair. She wore a sensible pair of pink trousers and a matching blazer, she very rarely wore dresses anymore. Her undead life partner floated next to her. As one would expect of an immortal, Marceline hadn't changed much in the past seven years, physically, but her expression was a lot more sombre. Over her millennium of unlife, Marceline had matured the most in the last decade. Her axe rested on the table, distorting several holographic gumball guardians, and Bubblegum's crown rested in her tangled, black hair. Opposite them, was a live, holographic image of the Flame King and the younger Earl of Lemongrab. The citrus monarch had floated on a disk-shaped hover device ever since his brother had eaten his legs, the encounter had also left him without a sizable chunk of his head, but the Emperor had given him a cybernetic implant that used the same technology as Finn's arm, and included a bionic eye. After the older Lemongrab's second attempt to consume his brother, the Earl had learnt a lot about loyalty and friendship, so had quickly tightened the bond between his kingdom and Bubblegum's when the war had broken out. The feminine Flame King was also a trusted ally of the Candy Kingdom and had, in fact, been the first to propose the formation of the Ooian Empire. She still wore the rocky armour that symbolised her successful overthrowing of her father, who still remained trapped in the lamp that had held her for the better half of her life.

On the table between them all, BMO stomped on the holograms of the Lich's soldiers, waving his arms dramatically, imitating the gigantic reptiles in the monster movies he used to play for Finn and Jake. BMO was not only recognisable from his pre-war self, but he was exactly the same as he had always been. Out of peer pressure, he had once tried to install what he called "A Grumpiness Patch" but, unsurprisingly, it had turned out to be incompatible with his model.

"Thanks for coming, you guys." EB said, as Finn and Jake entered the War Room. "How was patrol?"

"Pretty rad." Finn said. "We saw this wicked golem that was trying to bust his way through the Gumball Guardians barrier. We nailed him though."

"Good job guys. Ok, now that we're all here, BMO? Do you have a report on your mission?" Bubblegum asked.

"Yes Princess!" The Emperor had long since given up on correcting the tiny robot. "Grand-poopy says that the new WMOs will be ready for deployment in one week!"

"That's great BMO! And how was your evaluation?"

BMO ran over to the side of the table, pulled a small plug on a cord out of it and plugged it into himself. The image of Ooo was instantly replaced with a large, rotating image of a tank-like machine. It had caterpillar tracks on the sides of huge, cube-shaped body and a rectangular, pixelated face, identical to BMO's. Also, every possible space available on it was occupied by every weapon under the sky, from lasers and rocket launchers, to slingshots and peashooters.

"Grand-poopy has included all of your suggested modifications, Princess! And he sends his compliments on your War Time, Battle Simulation AI Software! He says it will be very useful for his next videogame!"

BMO's creator had lived on in the bowels of his labyrinthine factory, blissfully unaware of the seriousness of what was happening on the surface. Protected by the impossible maze of the factory and the SMO security, Moe had never even heard the moan of a bloodthirsty zombie. Sadly, since Moe's body ran mainly on electricity, he was the only person who could survive in such a deep, sunless place.

"Thanks BMO. Keep in touch with Moe and make sure the production isn't delayed. Flame King, how are things in the Fire Kingdom?"

The Flame King shrugged. "Real quiet. I don't think we're super high on the Lich's priority list. I guess fire and death kinda go hand in hand. It'll probably turn on us when it's done with the rest of you. Fire elementals and zombies can't really hurt each other that easily."

Bubblegum frowned. The Lich's indifference with the Fire Kingdom had bothered her since the beginning of the war, but she wasn't sure what to make of it or how to use it to her advantage. Then again, FK was probably right, they just weren't worth the Lich's troubles right now, that or he saw them as more of an ally when it came to destruction.

"Well, that just leaves you, Marceline." Emperor Bubblegum said, turning to the Vampire Queen. "I've scheduled a portal to the Nightosphere to open in our bedroom in half an hour."

"Why not now?"

"Because you have a far more important job to do first." Bubblegum smiled at her suggestively. "Go on, I told her she could see you before she goes to bed."

Grinning, Marceline floated over and kissed Bubblegum on the cheek. "Thanks Bonnie."

Marceline picked up her axe and flew from the War Room with enthusiasm. She swept around corners and up stairs, causing some of the more skittish guards to jump as she passed. She paused briefly at hers and Bonnibel's bedroom to kick the door open and throw her axe inside, carelessly. Then she floated over to the adjacent room, and eased the door open, knocking gently as she did.

The room next to Marceline's was spacious, and had sky blue walls, complete with clouds and rainbows, which the former Princess had painted herself. A small, wooden desk, a cupboard and a single bed were spaced around the outside of the room. And sitting in the middle of the floor, on the other side of a tower of building blocks to Peppermint Butler, was an eight-year-old girl.

Her hair, which ran down her back, was a deep magenta, which faded to black at the tips, and seemed to float behind her, as if she was under water, and a crown, very similar to the one Marceline was wearing, sat on top. Her skin was a faint pink, slightly paler than that of the Candy Emperor, and she wore a pair of fluffy, black pyjamas.

As Marceline floated in, the girl turned around and beamed. She stood up, knocking the blocks all over Peppbut as she did, ran towards Marceline and jumped into the air for her to catch her.

"Mommy!" The girl cried happily.

With her free hand, Marceline ruffled her hair lovingly. "Heya squirt!"

* * *

**The Box Kingdom is gone! Remember all those adorable kitties? Yeah... That's what kind of story this is...**


	3. Chapter 3

Mystery Bubblegum-Abadeer giggled excitedly as her undead mother lifted her into the air and spun around, holding her close to her chest. Peppermint Butler was tempted to remind Marceline that Bubblegum had forbidden her from floating in the air with their daughter in her arms, but he knew she'd ignore him.

"Mommy, I missed you!" Mystery said, trying to sound more hurt than she really was.

"I'm sorry sweetie. It's been a really busy day…"

"I didn't see you yesterday either!"

Marceline loved her daughter with all of her lifeless heart, but her duties in the war prevented her from spending as much time with her as she'd like, and when she _was_ with her, she always had the nagging anxiety that something would attack, which made her want to be back on patrol so she could protect her. She constantly worried that Mystery would misinterpret her absence as Marceline not wanting to see her.

Marceline playfully held Mystery above her head at arm's length. "How can I make it up to you?"

Marceline already knew the answer to her question. She didn't even wait for Mystery to answer it. She put the little girl down and crouched down on one knee. Mystery ran around her mother and leapt onto her back. Marceline's eyes turned yellow and she quickly began to grow. Mystery laughed excitedly as she was engulfed in the thick black fur that erupted from her mother's skin. In seconds, Marceline was on all fours in her giant bat form, and her daughter was sitting on her back, hysterically laughing. Marceline gave a joke roar and began walking in circles around the room, carefully holding the little girl in her wings.

Peppermint Butler backed into the corner of the room and sighed, Emperor Bubblegum _certainly_ wouldn't approve of this, right before the child was about to go to bed, but he had decided long ago that, despite the fact that he was Mystery's tutor and babysitter, he wasn't going to take sides between the two girls' very different parenting techniques. He had learnt that lesson the hard way, when he had indirectly implied that Marceline could be a bit more responsible as a parent… and had woken up the next morning with the red sections of his body sucked dry of colour.

Eventually, Marceline shrunk down to her normal form, much to Mystery's disappointment.

"I'm sorry sweetie." Marceline said, as she picked Mystery up, and noticed her face. "But you've gotta have your story and go to bed, before your other mom comes up here and stakes me for keeping you up."

Mystery giggled, it was no secret that her moms argued a lot. In fact, they often gave her the deciding vote on casual spats when they were all together. Mystery knew her moms only fought because they loved each other, and her. Marceline collapsed onto Mystery's bed, with the eight-year-old still in her arms. She reached around to her nightstand and picked up the book that Mystery and Peppbut had set aside.

"The Fire Puppy and the Snow Fairy?" Marceline read the cover, cringing at the cutesy picture on the front. "What happened to all those awesome Nightospherean fairy tales I found?"

"Erm… Mrs Bubblegum burnt them…" Peppermint Butler answered quietly.

Marceline groaned. "Well Mystery, I can probably tell you one from memory. You wanna hear about the demon with horn insecurities?"

Mystery frowned at her. "Mommy! I want that one!" She protested, pointing at the book in Marceline's hand.

"Fine... But next time, you'd better be ready for some totally math stories about the Nightosphere."

Mystery wrapped her arms around Marceline and rested her head on her chest as she began to read. As she read, Marceline kept sticking her forked tongue out and making repulsed noises at the sickeningly sweet storyline, no wonder Bonnie liked this so much… Mystery laughed loudly as Marceline suggested more violent solutions to the adorable duo's problems.

"You know, if that had been me…" Marceline started, as she closed the book. "The story would have been _way_ shorter! 'Oh, so you've stolen my candy?'"

"Bam! Pow!" Mystery cried, punching the air above them.

Marceline laughed. "You bet!" Once they had both stopped laughing and settled down, Marceline gently lifted into the air, and then pulled the blankets over her daughter. "Night buddy." She whispered, kissing her on the cheek.

"Night mommy."

Marceline smiled warmly as she floated from the room, with Peppermint Butler following behind. After Marceline dimmed the lights and closed the door, they walked past the two Banana Guards that were already standing diligently outside, in preparation of their departure.

"You didn't tell her about your trip to the Nightosphere." Peppermint Butler observed, as the two of them walked into Marceline and EB's room.

"Nah, it would just upset her."

Mystery loved her grandfather very much. They had used to play together as if he was younger than she was. But around a year ago, he had had a row with Bubblegum over the seal she had placed on Ooo's dimensional walls, keeping him from creating portals to come and visit, without Bubblegum's approval. Bubblegum had since apologised for some of the harsher things she had said to him, but Mr Abadeer had refused to return to Ooo unless it was through a portal he had conjured himself. That had been just over a year ago. Bubblegum was on poor terms with Prismo, the Cosmic Owl and Death for similar reasons. For Mystery, the potential alternative was her visiting her grandfather in _his_ home dimension, but, no matter how much she begged, that was something her pink mother would _never _allow to happen. It was one of Bubblegum's few rules that Marceline agreed with without reservation. The Nightosphere was no place for children.

Marceline checked her watch and looked up at the blank stretch of wall that she and Bubblegum usually used for portals from the palace… just under two minutes until it opened. Marceline had butterflies in her stomach. Her relationship with her dad was a _lot_ better than it had been eleven years ago, when Finn had forced her to confront him after so long, but it was still far from perfect. Marceline suddenly realised that Peppermint Butler was loitering next to her. He had no particular reason to wait for the portal with her. He rocked backwards and forwards on the balls of his little feet innocently.

"Hey Peppbut, aren't you on good terms with my dad?" Marceline asked, suspiciously.

The small mint looked surprised. "Oh… well yes, we used to get together irregularly, back before the war. So hard to find the time for social calls these days, you know?"

"Well aren't you off-duty now that Mystery's in bed? Tag along if you want…"

"Well… I wouldn't want to be a burden…" He babbled, awkwardly. Marceline looked at him tiresomely, silencing his gibberish. "Thank you Mrs Abadeer..."

A couple of seconds later, the room began to tremble very slightly, hopefully not enough to wake Mystery in the next room. A smiling face etched itself onto the wall in blue light, and thick, green liquid seemed to bleed from the lines. As Marceline picked up her axe from off the floor, a crack ran down the wall, and it separated, revealing the dull, red glow of the Nightosphere on the other side.

"Well… I guess we're going home…"

The Nightosphere hadn't changed. It never did. On the other side of the portal, the same bleak and barren landscape awaited Marceline and Peppermint Butler, with the same rivers of lava, the same columns of fire and the same burning sky. Grotesque, long-legged creatures strode across the land between mighty rock formations, with half of their bodies missing, displaying their internal organs, and humanoid demons dotted the area, with course, red skin and pointed horns. Not far from where the portal had opened, a tiny cottage, remarkably similar to Marceline's, nestled at the foot of an enormous mountain. The long queues of demons waiting for an audience with Marceline's dad had vanished, leaving only a thick trail of trampled dirt where they had once been, and the skeletons of several dozen demons who had died of starvation, waiting.

As Marceline floated towards the cottage, with Peppermint Butler in hasty pursuit, she looked worriedly around at the Nightosphere's occupants. Most of them paid her no attention at all, the ones that _did_ acknowledge her, treated her with caution, and maybe even fear. The last time she had visited the Nightosphere, a few years ago, she had received a celebrity's welcome. The demons had flocked around her and cheered, mostly because they respected the authority of her father, but some were fans of her music. Although Marceline much preferred this welcome, or rather lack of one, it _did_ make her worry what could have happened in the time she had been gone. She put on an extra burst of speed, disregarding Peppermint Butler's struggles to keep up with her.

With panic setting in, Marceline forced the door open the second she reached the little house and jumped. The inside of the cottage was in disarray. A shattered light bulb in a shredded lampshade hung over splintered and decomposing furniture, covered in a thick layer of grime, and the violently smashed shell of a TV. Several holes had been punched in the floor and the wallpaper was rotten and peeling in several places. Huddled in one corner, in a vest and striped boxer shorts, silently sobbing into a large tub of ice cream, was Marceline's dad. It looked as if the blue immortal hadn't moved from the spot for months. As soon as Marceline opened the door, Hunson Abadeer looked up and hissed, flicking his snake-like tongue, but immediately bit down on it when he realised who it was. Suddenly, a black haze engulfed the room, like Abadeer was a squid who had fired a spray of ink in self-defence, and a strong wind made Marceline cover her eyes for a second. When she looked back, the cottage was as good as new. The surfaces gleamed and stylish lamps illuminated tastefully decorated walls. Marceline's dad sat on a pristine sofa in a sharp business suit. His feet rested on a wood and glass coffee table and he casually flicked through a newspaper.

"Marceline!" He declared, looking up at her. "What a pleasant surprise!"

"Dad!?" Marceline gasped, demanding an explanation with her single word. "What's going on around here?"

"Well, the stocks I invested in are in the toilet, if you believe this old thing!" He chuckled, waving the newspaper at her.

Marceline swept over and snatched the newspaper from him, before he could stop her. "Daddy, this is from over a year ago!" She snapped, accusingly. "It's… from the day… that you had that fight with Bonnie…" She realised slowly.

"Oh… well no wonder it said that there was an earthquake yesterday!" Abadeer laughed unconvincingly. "You know how disorganised your old man is, pumpkin! I've gotta remember to throw these old things out!"

"Dad… what's going on?" Marceline repeated. "What? You're too stubborn to come visit, so you just give up on your job!?"

Although she doubted the demon population missed lining up for days on end, just to be sadistically tortured, the utter lack of what passed for Nightospherean government might put a damper on the job Bubblegum had entrusted her with.

Abadeer stood up. "Well, you know… I…" The corners of his mouth began to tremble and tears began to well up in his milky white, disk-like eyes. Eventually, he broke down again. "I JUST MISS MY LITTLE ANGEL SO MUCH!"

Marceline gasped. Her dad had always said that he loved her, but there had always been some part of her that believed he was lying to her. She suddenly felt horrible for what she had put him through. She flew forwards and wrapped her arms around her dad's shoulders.

"Oh daddy… I'm really sorry. I've missed you too."

Abadeer stopped crying immediately. "What? Oh… Oh right. Yeah, you're pretty cool too… I guess."

"What?" Marceline said quietly, as she backed away. "Wait…You mean Mystery? You let the Nightosphere fall into anarchy because you missed having a playmate!?" Marceline knew she shouldn't question anyone's love for her daughter, but her father had just reached a whole new level of ridiculousness.

"I just don't understand why you won't let her come and visit!" Abadeer whined. "It sounds more dangerous in Ooo these days than it is here!"

Marceline sighed. "Mystery's safest with her moms, dad. We're fine with you coming over for play dates. _You_ just need to swallow your stupid pride and ask Bonnie to open a portal for you!"

Abadeer frowned at his daughter. "Mystery would have a blast hanging out here! There are tonnes of kids here she could play with! I mean, if we didn't have kids, we wouldn't have child-eating vultures, right?"

Marceline stared at her dad in disbelief, willing him to see reason and start using his brain for once. Suddenly, their stare-off was interrupted by a squeaky voice.

"Hey hey, Abadeer! How's it hanging?"

Marceline spun around and, along with her father, stared at the door, to see Peppermint Butler leaning into the room. He met their gazes, which both sent the same, very clear message.

"Erm… this is obviously a bad time… You know I've got some debts to collect in the area. I'll see you guys later…" He sheepishly stepped from the room.

Marceline rounded on her dad again, as if they hadn't been interrupted. "Anyway dad, I've got a really important message from Bonnie."

"Unless it's an apology and an announcement that her confounded walls are coming down, I'm not interested in _anything_ your girlfriend has to say." Abadeer huffed, turning away from Marceline and folding his arms, like a self-righteous child.

"_Wife_, dad…" Marceline corrected. "You gave me away, remember?" When her dad continued ignoring her, Marceline got back to her point. "Dad, _I_ want you to pull yourself together and help Ooo! The war is a stalemate right now, and it can only end with us running out of resources and losing! Our forces are finite, the Lich's aren't. We _need_ you and your people!"

It wasn't the first time Marceline had gone to the Nightosphere with this request. In the war's early days, Bubblegum sent Marceline to talk to her dad almost on a daily basis, and every time, she got the same answer, almost word-for-word.

"Marceline… you're a young woman now, not a little girl." Abadeer started. Marceline's heart sank. "How do you expect to grow if I do everything for you?"

Marceline began to growl furiously under her breath. "Dad, I haven't grown for hundreds of years! And more importantly, you haven't done a thing for me in your life! Not ever! This is the one thing I've _ever_ asked you to do, and all you can think about is yourself!"

"Really Marceline…" Abadeer criticised. "Don't you think you're a little old for teenage temper tantrums? Besides, I think it will be good for you to be ruled by an undead monarch who understands you. Much better than that candy dictator you're married to."

"Killed, dad, not ruled." Marceline corrected, ignoring the quip about Bubblegum. "The Lich will kill everything that moves eventually. Even the undead."

Of course, Marceline knew it would be far more effective to remind her father that the Lich would kill Mystery if it got the chance, but she could never bring herself to say the words, for fear of reminding herself that they were true.

"Well, I have every faith in you, darling. You give it your best shot and you'll see that you don't need your old man's help!"

"Dad…" Marceline began, desperately wracking her brains for something she could say that would make her father see reason, but she thought of nothing.

Lost for words, she let out a frustrated scream and swept from the cottage, slamming the door behind her. As she left, she saw Peppermint Butler walking towards her.

"Mrs Abadeer! Are we leaving already?" He sounded disappointed.

"Yes." Marceline spat, testily.

Peppermint Butler looked towards Hunson Abadeer's house longingly, then sighed and trudged after her. As they proceeded towards the small boulder, against which their entry portal had appeared, Marceline pulled a mobile phone out of her pocket and put it up to her ear.

"Hey Bonnie… we're done here… Yeah… same old junk. He's gone kinda crazy since he stopped seeing Mystery." Marceline didn't talk as if she was mocking her father, she truly sympathised both him and her daughter, and it was clear in her voice. "Ok… Thanks Bonnie, see ya."

Moments after Marceline hung up the phone, a swirling, green portal swam into existence against the boulder, and Marceline and Peppbut stepped in without hesitation.


	4. Chapter 4

Several days later, Emperor Bubblegum sat in her lab, with her Power Gauntlet sitting on the desk in front of her, with most of the components and wiring detached for maintenance. Bubblegum had been working on the gauntlet for the entire duration of the war, with little success. The ancient power that went into making Billy's gauntlet had proved difficult to recreate, and Bubblegum had had no luck tracking down the wizard who had created the original. She presumed him or her to be dead. The pink scientist also found it difficult to run tests on her gauntlets. Obviously, she didn't have a sample of the Lich's DNA to try it out on, so had to settle on synthesised skin tissue she had grown, based on what she knew about the Lich.

"Ok sweetie, let's try a necrobane filter at 47% density again, but this time with the duel ion core battery." Bubblegum requested.

Perched on a stool next to Bubblegum, Mystery sat, attentively watching everything her mother did, her deep purple hair floating serenely behind her. As well as her other mother's mischief and passion, Mystery had inherited Bubblegum's genius. Peppermint Butler could barely teach her fast enough, and often requested that she sit in on Bubblegum's experiments, which the former princess agreed to wholeheartedly, so long as she promised not to touch anything without her permission.

True to her promise, Mystery sat politely with her hands on her lap, until her mother requested the new parts for the gauntlet. She gently searched the various objects spread across the desk in front of her until she found the filter and the battery.

"Thanks." The Emperor smiled sweetly as her young lab assistant passed her the parts she needed. "Now… let's see what we got."

With the freshly reassembled gauntlet on her right hand, Bubblegum stood up and punched a large, red button with her left, which caused a wall panel to slide away, revealing a metal, rectangular frame with artificial Lich skin stretched across it, like a vertical trampoline. She took aim with the gauntlet and, with no clear trigger, fired a beam of white light at the patch of skin. Mystery flinched at the high-pitched screech the weapon made.

Once the light died down, Bubblegum looked crestfallen at the frame, with the artificial Lich skin undamaged within it. She dropped the gauntlet to her side and sighed. There were only so many things she could try before she would be forced to concede that the Lich was indestructible.

Mystery hopped off her stool and walked over to reassuringly pat her mother's forearm. "It's ok mommy. You'll figure it out!" She encouraged her.

Smiling, Bubblegum removed the gauntlet and picked her daughter up. "Thanks Mystery." She said weakly.

She greatly appreciated her daughter's encouragement, but in spite of it, her faith in the seven year long gauntlet project was rapidly dwindling, but she didn't know what else to try. Billy's Power Gauntlet was the only weapon that had ever harmed the Lich. Finn's sword had once severed its arm, but that had barely slowed it down.

Bubblegum sat down at one of her computers, with Mystery in her lap, and began to study the lines of code that were the gantlet's programming, desperate to find some kind of flaw she could correct.

"The beam is like a computer virus, right?" Mystery asked her mother. "It reprogrammes undead cells and turns them into normal dead cells?"

Bubblegum smiled and kissed Mystery's forehead, pride swelling within her. "That's right honey. The trouble is, the Lich's body can reanimate them again, instantly. Most undead can't do that…"

"So… the problem is that it can heal faster than the gauntlet can kill it?"

"Yeah…"

Bubblegum often worried that she told Mystery too much about her work and the war, but it was all important and, as little as she liked to admit it, one day Mystery's knowledge of the Lich might just save her life.

"Then how come you can't trap the Lich in an energy field, that sends the code to every cell of its body at the same time?"

"Because… that would require far too much energy to deploy with portable projectors. We'd need to set up humungous generators and fix the projectors into the ground, so we'd need the Lich to just walk right into it. And unfortunately, it just isn't stupid enough…"

The young princess frowned thoughtfully. "But… the other day, Peppermint Butler taught me about a place called Sub-Ooo."

Bubblegum's head snapped around and her eyes locked with her daughter's, both of them suddenly thinking the same thing.

"The sub dimension! If we set up projectors there, they'd have no mass and ipso facto, no weight!"

"And because zombies only exist on the physical plain… they could be carried straight to the Lich's castle in Sub-Ooo!"

"Where they could project the Lich-busting field in real life!" Bubblegum stood up and hugged Mystery tight to her chest. "You. Are. Brilliant!" She cried, and kissed the purple-haired princess several times on her cheek, making her wince and struggle to get free.

Of course, Mystery's plan wasn't without flaw. For starters, the Lich and its generals walked in both worlds, so it could destroy the field generators if it was given the chance. But it was certainly something to work on. Bubblegum put Mystery down and returned to her computer.

"Right, I'll draw up the specs for the generators, you and Peppbut head to the library and find us a portable energy source that can support the signal." Before Mystery could head for the lab's exit, Bubblegum placed a hand on her shoulder and looked her lovingly in the eyes. "I'm so proud of you."

Blushing slightly, Mystery ran for the hallway, where Peppermint Butler had been waiting for her, without another word. Turning back to her computer, Bubblegum sighed. Although she was yet to find a conclusive flaw with Mystery's idea, Bubblegum was still far from getting her hopes up. Every month or so, she came up with a new variation of the technology in Billy's Gauntlet, which she deemed capable of defeating the Lich, but she had always been let down in the past. A year ago, a legion of banana and lemon soldiers had attempted to force their way through the Lich's defences and attack its castle with a bomb that Bubblegum theorised could eternally freeze the Lich in time, but they had never even gotten in range. These days, it was only in the presence of Mystery that Bubblegum let herself believe that the war could ever end, because only then could she get Mystery to believe it too.

* * *

The following day, Finn, Jake and Emperor Bubblegum waited patiently outside the Candy Castle. Nearby, several banana guards, shorter and skinnier than most of the others, and some of them wearing spectacles, worked on four large devices, shaped like street lamps with big, round lamps at the top. As they waited, they jittered and tapped their feet anxiously. As a rule, none of them ever liked to be standing around, doing nothing.

Eventually, the three of them spun around to the sound of footsteps and a voice, emerging from within the castle.

"So then… Hot Dog Princess was all _'Ooooh, Ice King! You're so handsome! Please marry me!' _But I was young, and wasn't looking to settle down. People say I kept getting rejected, but I was totes a bachelor by choice!"

The Ice King appeared in the palace's huge doorway, with Princess Mystery sitting on his shoulders, hugging his forehead. Marceline floated behind them, smiling at the Ice King's story and keeping a cautious hand on her daughter's back.

"Simon, that story didn't really happen, did it?" Mystery giggled.

"Hey! Are you calling me a liar?"

"Yeah!" Mystery snapped, jokingly, gently kicking his shoulders with her feet.

Once they were close enough, Bubblegum reached up and lifted Mystery off the Ice King's shoulders. "Hey sweetie. I hope your uncle Simon was telling you some nice, _appropriate_ stories." She shot a dirty look at the blue wizard.

"Yeah, he was just telling me what a big loser he used to be!" She grinned.

Mystery and the Ice King often exchanged childish barbs with one another like siblings, but the Ice King knew better than to say anything bad about Mystery in her moms' presence, even as a joke, so he stuck his tongue out at her and remained silent.

"Anyway, you guys all set for your mission?" Bubblegum asked.

"You know it, E-Bubs!" Finn confidently announced, drawing his sword.

"Right, all of you except the Ice King have been to the Land of the Dead before, but remember, a _lot_… a lot's changed since then." Bubblegum had been about to say 'A lot of people have died since then.' But changed it quickly after a glance at her daughter. "So you might have a tougher time of it. Have you packed BMO?"

The little robot poked its head out of Finn's backpack. "I am here, Princess!" It declared, waving its little arms.

"Great, I've installed the Necrometer, so you should be able to lead everyone straight to Death. And if he doesn't cooperate, you can use it to find the soul. But remember, the last thing we want is for Death to be our enemy too, so you only fight him as a last resort! You got that, Finn?" Bubblegum tried unsuccessfully to avoid her singling-out of Finn sounding like an accusation.

Finn gave a low, awkward bow. "You have my word, milady."

"And finally, when you meet Death, make sure you let Marceline do all the talking." That time, the Emperor shot another glance at the Ice King.

"Mystery, tell your other mom she worries too much." Marceline joked, ruffling the little girl's hair.

"Geez Marceline, I'm sorry." Bubblegum began, her apology dripping with sarcasm. "The way I'm fussing, you'd think you were going to the _Land of the Dead_!"

"Bonnie, it's gonna be fine, I _am_ dead, you know." Marceline reminded her.

"Marceline!" Bubblegum snapped, accusingly, wrapping an arm around Mystery's ears. Mystery knew everything there was to know about vampires and the undead, and she knew that her mother was one of them, but Bubblegum despised her talking like that in front of their daughter.

"Sorry… Vascularly Challenged." She corrected herself with air quotes, and then softened her tone. "I'm gonna be fine."

Reluctantly accepting Marceline's non-verbal apology, Bubblegum held Mystery in one arm, allowing her wife to float forwards and hug them both.

"Don't wait up for me, kay Bonnie? You need sleep." Before Bubblegum could respond, Marceline floated backwards towards the gate, pointing at the Candy Emperor accusingly.

"…Well… See ya gals." Finn said, after having awkwardly waited out Bubblegum and Marceline's row. Then began to shuffle after Marceline.

"Yeah… Have fun doin' princess stuff." Jake agreed, and then followed his brother.

By the time Finn, Jake and the Ice King caught up with Marceline at the Candy Kingdom border, she was almost done clearing security. She scanned her eyes while simultaneously punching a series of passwords into a keypad built into the wall. Next to her, a Banana Guard ran a scanner over her axe, checking its authenticity.

Once she had effectively proved that she was, indeed, Marceline, she floated through the energy field, along with the others, and set out across the bleak and desolate landscape.

"Man… it's gonna be tough going back after so long." Finn remarked. "You guys been back since it died?"

"Yeah man, I go pay tribute once a week!" Jake said, like he was shocked to hear that Finn didn't do the same. "Hehe, nah, just kidding. I never went back."

Mystery and Peppermint Butler had researched magical artefacts for hours, looking up obscure and exotic relics and more familiar devices such as Bubblegum's amulet and the Ice King's crown, but none promised to be capable of sustaining the energy levels EB's device would require. It had been Mystery's idea to think outside the box and brainstorm some things that wouldn't necessarily be on record, and eventually realised that one of Ooo's most powerful objects only became available a few years ago. It was the soul of Finn and Jake's tree. It was the fourth oldest living thing in all of Ooo, third if you didn't count Marceline, and its collected wisdom and life force made it more than powerful enough to meet their requirements.

"It's a real bummer that the Lichite tore it down…" Marceline solemnly pointed out, referring to the Lich's general.

"It was a real tree-bro." Finn agreed.

"Sleepovers in a palace just ain't the same…" The Ice King pitched in.

The five of them continued in silence for a few minutes, sadly remembering the mighty vegetation they had all once called home.

As they approached their former home, a distant lightning bolt revealed the silhouette of a giant, wooden shard, at the top of a hill, pointing skywards. A colossal cage of bare, lifeless branches surrounded it, as well as cold, grey logs, the size of trains.

* * *

The twelve-foot, armoured skeleton pressed Marceline's neck against the ground. Even in her bat form, her struggles to get free were futile. With its spare hand, the Lich's General raised a sword as big as itself, but before it could strike, a jagged mountain of ice erupted from the ground between it and Marceline, separating them.

"Hey, get your own Vampire Queen!" The Ice King snarled, descending from the tree and towards the creature, his hands glowing blue.

As the general looked up at the Ice King, two orange bands ensnared its arms and dragged them behind its back. Marceline climbed to her feet and pounced on the skeleton, and as she did, Finn leapt from behind, thrusting a golden sword at its back. Once his sword collided with the general's armour, it bent and warped, without so much as scratching the dense plating.

"Ahh nutmeg!" Finn cried.

The general seized Marceline, who was savagely gnawing on its skull, and threw her like a ball at Finn, then seized Jakes arms, oblivious to his attempts to restrain it, and swung him over his head like a whip, striking the Ice King out of the air.

Bludgeoned and bruised, the four of them staggered stubbornly to their feet.

"Why don't you go back to the Lich, you butt!?" Finn snarled.

In response to Finn's taunt, the general turned around, swung its sword over its head and brought it crashing down. It was defensively met by Finn's robotic forearm and Marceline's axe. The two of them struggled against the undead warrior's might, Finn furrowing his brow and Marceline hissing angrily.

Suddenly, the general's back was pelted by a salvo of icicles. The Ice King had risen back into the air and was launching the attack.

"STOP MESSING WITH MY BROS!" He roared.

Before either of them could react, the general seized Finn and Marceline with its free hand and hurled them at the Ice King, sending the three of them crashing through the wall of the tree fort. Angrily, Jake began to expand. He morphed his body into that of a gargantuan dragon, then roared, flicking strands of orange flesh from his mouth, imitating fire.

As Jake charged at the general, it gave a mighty swing of its sword, sending a diagonal beam of green light coursing at the polymorphic dog. Jake yelped and reverted as quickly as he could, barely managing to converse on a spot just above the beam, missing it by inches, but it sailed on, expanding as it did, and sliced the tree fort in half, creating an ear-shattering explosion as it tore the gas lines.

"FINN!" Jake cried in dismay.

Oblivious to the deadly monster behind him, Jake stared, horrified at the chunks of debris that rained from the colossal smoke cloud the explosion had caused. Suddenly, something glinted in the moonlight, catching Jake's eye. Sailing high above the wreckage, just beginning to descend again, was a small, icy cocoon, with three blurred figures suspended inside.

Jake's legs morphed into tightly coiled springs and he launched himself into the air. As he shot towards the block of ice, he shot his tongue out like a chameleon, ensnaring his frozen friends, and then landed on four spindly, elongated legs.

Feeling a stab of regret for his cherished former home, Jake sucked the block of ice into his mouth and, without turning around, sprinted towards the Candy Kingdom.

* * *

"This place should do fine."

Marceline floated in what was once the tree fort's entrance. Treasure piled all around her and a wooden ladder reached towards where the upper floors had used to be. As Marceline was picking out the most intact corner of the room for them to use to access the Land of the Dead, Finn and Jake stood, sadly surveying the circular husk of the tree's upper half. Their couch, tables and oven lay smashed and broken on the ground. They also spotted the cracked remains of their clock, with the hands shaped like the two of them.

"Hey look." The Ice King pointed up at a small alcove, next to the ladder that led to Finn and Jake's old room. "That's where my room used to be."

"Yeah… good times." Finn sighed.

Marceline floated up above the half of the tree that was still routed to the ground. "Come on you dweebs!" She groaned. "Portal time!" She tapped the back of her wrist, where one might wear a watch.

The three of them reluctantly left their nostalgia and joined the vampire in the treasure room. They stood, shoulder to shoulder, facing the corner of the room.

"Right, now cross your eyes." Marceline instructed.

As they did so, their respective fields of vision split, showing two creases in the wall, and between the two, a swirling vortex appeared, which then parted, revealing a dark, Nightosphere-like environment. Suddenly, what seemed like a hurricane tore through the tree fort and into the portal. Finn, Jake, Marceline and the Ice King struggled to keep their footing as the wind threatened to drag them into the portal. They slowly realised that the wind was made of hundreds of blurred faces and was accompanied by a spine-chilling shriek. The menacing wraiths spiraled around the hill and into the portal, like water going down a drain, and mere moments after the portal opened, dragged the tree fort's former residents in with them.


End file.
